


The Trust I Put in You

by ThroughTheFog



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Threatened Persephone
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-01 21:09:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5220911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThroughTheFog/pseuds/ThroughTheFog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone has their issues. Nico deals with his everyday by putting on a smile and pretending he is okay, by running away from anyone that can hurt him and pushing away anyone that tries to get close. </p><p>Percy has his problems too, and he wants to help Nico deal with his problems in a healthier way. Does it go deeper than just wanting to help a friend? Percy wants to know Nico's past and wants to trust Nico with his past as well, but not everything works out the way you would think. </p><p>If Nico lets Percy in will he have finally found the one person that he doesn't have to run away from?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Not even going to lie, yes I am still working on my other stories, but I needed to do some venting writing. I hope you guys like it, please leave your thoughts at the end. 
> 
> ThroughTheFog aka Megara

The Trust I Placed in You

Part 1: Introductions

“The truth is that I can run away from everyone,” Nico told Bianca once. They were young, Bianca was probably only twelve and Nico barely ten but they had been forced to grow up fast. He stared at her with hard eyes as she started to tear up and in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but hear a voice telling him that she was the one person that he still cared for and that would never change.

Both of them had been forced to grow up fast. Their mother had died when they were young, Nico had only been four years old at the time and it didn’t matter that Bianca had stayed by his side there was always something missing. When her funeral was over the two children had been placed into their father’s custody, he was a caring man but he was also hard to connect with. One of the first stories that Nico had ever learned about the man was that he ruined the happy marriage he had with their mother due to infidelity. The product of that affair was a girl only two years younger than Nico named Hazel. She lived in New Orland with her mother and her mere existence upset Mr. di Angelo to the point of not even being able to establish a relationship with her.

Nico’s trust issues came with meeting his father’s new wife though. A beautiful woman so threatened by his sister and him that she found every way imaginable to make them unhappy. In the beginning she had been kind and by all looks sincere. She had taken the children anywhere their hearts desired and never so much as scolded them. Nico loved her, as did Bianca, and the two of them sent thanks to their mother because they had convinced themselves that she had seen to it that they would not grow up without a mother’s love. Even if it wasn’t hers.

They were so wrong.

Life changed from being filled with beauty and wonder with their mom, to being a façade of promises that would never be fulfilled. Bianca was the first to realize it when Persephone smacked Nico’s hand while he was folding laundry. Nico was five at the time and insisted that he had deserved it because he had done something wrong, but Bianca told him that there was never a reason to hit a child. She pushed her step mother away from her brother and received a spanking for being rude.

That night the necklace that her mother had left her, a locket with the last family photo they ever took, went missing. No matter how much she tried to convince her father to look in his wife’s drawers he refused and warned her not to start a fight. That became the normal response to everything she tried to warn him about; don’t start a fight. As if they weren’t worth fighting for.

Nico tried for years to believe that his sister was just over reacting, that she was just upset someone tried to compensate for the loss of their mother. Bianca protected him as much as she could, letting him live in his world of innocence while she took the brunt of this woman’s jealousy behind closed doors. It wasn’t long though before Persephone wasn’t satisfied with just her misery. Bianca was the spitting image of their mother, the very thing that Persephone felt threatened by, but she had long since lost the gentle nature that their mother had possessed and that satisfied this woman. So she went after Nico.

He had felt the sting of her touch before, when he would step over the lines she drew for him. The structure that she had set for him was tightened and suddenly even an ill-timed sneeze would set her off and she would pull him aside from the table to lecture him. Isolating him was the only way she could punish him, because then Bianca couldn’t intervene. The times that she was able to get away only resulted in the both of them being hit, and their new mother made sure they knew that it would have been kinder for them to both just behave and take their punishment. She tried relentlessly to push them apart, and by the time Nico turned nine he no longer cried for her help or fell apart in her room late at night where she could comfort him.

Because Persephone was right; if he let people in they would only hurt him. No one, not even their father was going to fight for them. And the final blow came when Bianca applied for an all girl’s school in the UK. By then they rarely spoke, but she hadn’t even told him she was thinking about it. One night at dinner their father and Persephone just stared at her when she told them she had applied and gotten a full scholarship.

All she needed was their permission. And Persephone was more than happy to have her gone.

That was what led to their conversation. On the roof one night Bianca sat beside him as Nico was nursing his newest wounds. They were never too bad, a bruise here and there and always covered by his clothes. Bianca was twelve so she would be starting middle school overseas, but she would be staying until she graduated. The school would even provide room and board over their breaks. Nico could tell that it hurt her to leave him, but if there was one thing that life had taught him it was that there was no one more important to someone than themselves. Bianca was leaving him, leaving him with the woman that had been their personal monster since they were toddlers, and she wasn’t going to change her mind.

“When did you decide to run away from me?” she asked him after he told her that it didn’t matter that she was leaving because he could run away from everyone. Even when he wanted her to stay he couldn’t tell her because he so desperately wanted her to go as well. He just wanted her to take him with her.

He thought about what she said for a while, long enough that the lights in the house went off. “I was nine,” he told her, “and I realized that I could handle it better than you. You were already broken,” the words made Bianca flinch but he knew that if he told her he did it to protect her she may actually decide to stay. “Everything that she wanted from you, you gave her. She wanted you hard and angry and it didn’t take much. With me she just wants be to hurt, and I have no problem acting like I’m still happy when I’m not. Not if it means never letting her get what she wants.”

Bianca broke at that and wrapped her brother in her arms, “You’re right that you are stronger than me,” she whispered, “but you shouldn’t settle with being miserable. Because there is one person you can never run away from.”

They pulled apart from each other and Nico wished that he didn’t cause her to cry.

“You can never run away from yourself.”

And that was the last thing that Bianca told him. The next morning Persephone woke her early and took her to the airport without letting her say goodbye.

 

 

 

Percy Jackson smacked his forehead against the top of his desk as class let out.

“Mr. Jackson—

“On it!” he called out and raised his hand as the teacher at the front of the room was ready to tell him to stay behind so they could have a ‘discussion’. “You guys go on and I will meet you at the bus stop,” he lifted his head to look at his friends. Grover, Annabeth, and Luke were all watching him with worrying eyes but Luke had learned his lesson on arguing with Percy so he took Annabeth and walked away without a word. He threw Grover a glance and the scrawny boy stood up to leave.

“Hey,” he whispered to Percy who looked sideways from where he had laid his head back down against the desk, “we won’t leave without you, got it?”

He huffed and Grover smiled at him before being shoed away by the teacher. Percy watched as his three friends reluctantly left the classroom.

“We really need to talk about your grades,” Mr. Blofis sighed and sat down in the desk next to Percy.

Percy groaned loudly and leaned back in his chair, glaring at the failed test that had been mocking him for the past hour of class. It didn’t take a genius to realize that Percy had a difficult time getting through… well any subject he supposed. The only class he was passing at the moment were gym and Mythology. All he had to do to pass gym was show up, and as far as Mythology it was just a fun class that he didn’t tend to fall asleep in.

Blofis reached out and took the paper from his hand and looked it over, “You know that the school has a policy about retests,” he said and Percy cringed at the words. He knew that without doing a ton of work he was going to fail because of his tests scores. Even if he passed every test left from now until the end of the year. “But,” Blofis smiled and Percy could see a mischievous glint in his eyes, “if you can manage to get a tutor and show decent improvement then I could drop a few of your lower test scored so you pass.”

And that was why Percy didn’t completely hate English. Mr. Blofis was a man who would do anything to help you if you put forth honest effort. Jumping up from his seat Percy decided he would work of who could tutor him later and just be grateful for Blofis’s leniency in that moment. His teacher smiled as he ran out of the class room and toward the bus where his friends were waiting. For most students the day was ending, but for Percy the day had just begun.

He, Luke, Grover, and Annabeth all crammed into the bus together. They all felt a little old to be riding the bus by now, they were all at least sixteen aside from Luke. Luke was seventeen and Annabeth turned seventeen in a week. She was a year above the rest of them in school, a junior, and Luke was only a sophomore because he had been held back his first year, but none of them liked to think of that anymore. It was part of the reason they all rode the bus together: they felt like they had to stay a group now. Even if it had been over a year ago.

Luke was better, if they didn’t think about it.

About a month ago Annabeth had finally decided to go out with him again, after a year of avoiding their tension she knew that it was a longing that wasn’t going to go away and the two of them hadn’t been happier. She got off the bus with him at his house and the couple waved at Grover and Percy when the two of them were pulled away by the big yellow bus. It was good to see them both so happy.

Grover waited a good ten minutes before asking questions.

“So how bad is it?” he finally cracked and Percy just smiled at him. It would be so easy for him to believe that his friend was actually worried about him.

Sighing he leaned back and stretched his long arms over his head. “Blofis is awesome and he said that he could drop a couple of the tests if I start to show improvement. He recommended getting a tutor,” at that he looked to see Grover’s reaction.

“Well if I were able to help you improve then I would, but our last school project didn’t go well and my English grade is barely passing.”

He did have a point. The last time the two of them had worked together was back in middle school on a science fair project. Percy had pointed out that their volcano was more realistic since it burned through flesh but the principal had deemed their red acid solution a safety hazard and for once instead of a volcano getting them a ribbon it got them two weeks detention.  

The bus stopped right outside Grover’s house and he skipped down the steps. Ever since Percy knew Grover he had a pretty bad limp, he didn’t participate in gym because of it and his parents had arranged for the bus to drop him off practically at his front door. The limp never seemed to bother him and Percy nearly forgot about it half the time but as he was walking away a small part of him wondered why he had a limp… He silenced it, if Grover wanted to tell him something than he would. Percy had no reason to insist that he open up about his past, after all that had happened to Luke, well, Percy had learned that sometimes people shut doors for reasons. Just like he did.

Instead of being dropped off at home Percy took the bus into the downtown area. The last stop was about two blocks from where he worked and he waved the driver goodbye as he jumped down onto the sidewalk. He thought about stopping by the candy store where his mom worked but thought better of it and continued towards the aquarium. He had worked there for over two years now, he didn’t mind it but the hours were hard. As he walked he distracted himself from his own thoughts by whistling a tune and picked up his pace when he saw the time.

If he lost this job his mother and he would be forced out onto the streets again.

As he opened the side door to where he worked he slammed into someone full force. Him and the other person both fell to the ground and Percy rolled to his side to get off the guy.

“Well, well, well,” the voice of his boss cooed at him as she stood at his side. Her name was Calypso and she was probably one of the best people he had ever met but she did had a thing about reliability. “Look who got here in the nick of time,” she smiled and helped both of them to their feet. Even though Calypso was at least twenty seven, considering she had a doctorate in marine biology, she didn’t look much older than maybe eighteen. Her cinnamon auburn hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail and she didn’t seem to be wearing makeup but she still dazzled Percy with her beauty. Until he saw the guy he ran into.

He had a messy mass of loose black curls on his head, his hair just a bit longer than most people would like it, and they were the type of curls that you barely even noticed when you looked at him but they were there and the curled more at the base of his neck. Percy got lost in his eyes, they were endless pits and he had a smile that was beautiful even if he had the nagging suspicion it was fake.

“This is our new trainee,” Calypso waved a hand in front of Percy’s face and he was thankful that the boy seemed to be too busy dusting himself off to notice Percy staring at him. “I want you to show him around and get him introduced to everyone and started on basic training for the tanks.”

Percy put on his best smile and stuck out his hand, “The name is Percy,” he said and waited for the other boy to take it.

There was a pause but he did, his long fingers entwining with Percy’s in a way that shocked him. “My name is Nico,” there was a hint of an Italian accent to his voice that Percy wasn’t quite prepared for. “Nico di Angelo.”   


	2. What is Home?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy training Nico for work. Nico notices something about his trainer that intrigues him but he isn't sure if he is possitive he even saw it. Once Nico goes home though Percy gets to finish his shift and Nico gets to have a meal with his very intuitive uncle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow when I vent write I vent write a lot. Hope you guys enjoy it :) 
> 
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara

Part 2:What is Home?

Nico hated physical contact. He had left the home he had with his father a week ago and had managed to not touch a single person since. After he and Persephone had their last falling out, something that resulted in two broken ribs and a busted balcony as well as an expensive vase that he had thrown, he had convinced his father to let him leave. Now he was in New York with an uncle who hadn’t seen him since he was two and the first rule of the house was earn your own keep. So a part time job it was, and he found one rather quickly. He started school the day before so he would only be working a few hours after classes and then on the weekends aside from Sunday. Sunday was ‘family day’, whatever the hell that meant.

And yet all that caution with his still healing ribs and just general distaste for human contacted had been for nothing as an older, broader, and taller teen barreled into him the very second he was supposed to start his shift. He had to take a moment before talking to check his ribs, not to mention his breath after the collision caused a sharp pain in his chest. When he was done he was stunned nearly speechless by the boy who was holding his hand out to him, his trainer Percy Jackson. Thankfully for Nico he was a master at hiding his emotions, even if this was one he hadn’t had to cover before. Flashing Percy a smile he shook the boys hand and followed him to start training.

Percy wasn’t actually that much taller than Nico when he actually looked him over. He wasn’t as broad as Nico had first though either, though he was broader than Nico. His muscles shifted under his shirt as he walked and Nico found himself wondering how hard they were to the touch, what they looked like with the shirt off.

“This is the locker room,” Percy pointed out the obvious as they walked through a set of doors. Nico snapped back to the present and pushed aside any perverse thoughts he had about Percy. “The uniform here is pretty basic unless you have to actually clean the tank, which you won’t have to do until Saturday, so you can just change back here at the start of your shift. Calypso doesn’t mind since it only takes anyone a couple minutes, and with the suit to clean the tank it can take a helping hand to put it on.”

“Sounds like an understanding boss.”

“She is,” Percy stopped in front of a locker and opened it, inside was a clean pressed aquarium tee shirt that had his name stitched onto the front in fine cursive, so of course Nico couldn’t read it. He took the shirt from Percy and proceeded to pull it on over the long sleeve black shirt he was wearing. “You may want to cut down the layers,” Percy warned him, “the feeding rooms can get really hot and humid.” Nico waved him off and Percy just shrugged. “Back to Calypso though, she does have a pet peeve with attendance. If you are sick or have an emergency make sure to call in ahead of time. I had to go to the hospital once and she nearly had a panic attack.”

Nico nodded his head, “Good to know,” he kept stealing glances at Percy hoping that the other boy wouldn’t notice. He really was attractive, with green eyes that reminded him of the ocean in Italy where him and his sister sat on the edge of a tall red rocked cliff after his mother’s funeral. He didn’t remember much about that day aside from thinking that the ocean should have been grey and they sky should have been black because all of the light had been stolen from him. He even refused to wear the yellow roses they were pinning to everyone’s jackets because they were his mother’s favorites.

_Do you see the roses? Everyone loves the red ones because they’re like royalty, or the white because they’re pure, or the pink because they are cute. But me, I love the yellows. They are overlooked but they remind me of life, no matter how little people may think of them they always look joyful and happy._

His flashback was broken as he realized Percy was changing into uniform. The gorgeous boy slipped off his shirt like it was nothing, and underneath the worn material of his obviously old shirt were faint white a pink lines crisscrossed on his skin. Nico almost didn’t look away in time, he hadn’t even gotten to marvel at the muscles he had just been fantasizing about because the scars had distracted him. But Percy just flashed him a smile once he was in uniform and waved him back through the doors to start training.

 

Percy hadn’t been joking when he told Nico that the feeding rooms get hot and humid. He was surprised that by the end of his shift Nico wasn’t begging him to go back so he could change. It was six thirty and Nico was almost done with his shift. Percy was actually kind of sad to have to show him back to the locker rooms so he could clock out.

“This place is huge,” Nico commented as he stripped off his shirt, careful not to expose the bruises on his torso.

Handing Nico a hanger Percy smiled, “This isn’t even a very large aquarium,” he said, “and cleaning comes through for the uniforms once a week.”

“Nice,” Nico sighed and silently thanked Calypso for taking a bit off of his load for laundry. “And I guess I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been to an aquarium.”

Woah, Nico froze, he wasn’t sure why he had said that. It felt like years since he had told anyone anything about his personal life. Even when he went behind his father’s back to talk to Hazel he made sure they didn’t really talk about anything going on in his life. He liked to stay focused on other people.

And his slip up did not go unnoticed by Percy. “You’ve never been to an aquarium before?” he looked a little shocked, “what made you decide to work here then?” Percy made sure he kept his voice level and calm but something told him Nico could tell he wanted to ask more.

Nico shrugged, he was good at evasive action but he hadn’t been in a situation like this for years. “How long will the training last?”

Percy wasn’t sure if Nico was asking because he genuinely wanted to know or if he was hoping that he wouldn’t have to work with Percy much longer. “Two weeks,” Percy informed him and stood up to show Nico how to clock out. Nico had almost been hoping to get a second look at Percy’s bare back, sure by now that he had just imagined the scars.

But Percy never changed.

“Aren’t you going home as well?” he didn’t make it sound like he cared, and Percy didn’t take it that way.

“I’m on for another two hours,” Percy shrugged and Nico clocked out, turning away from Percy to hide his expression. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he locked the door behind Nico after the boy left and headed back to the locker room where he pulled out the suit to clean the tanks.

For the next two hours he cleaned everything; the tanks, the tables, the concession stands, the bath rooms, and per usual the only thing that made it worth it was the swim. The dolphins nudged at him to play and the sting rays brushed up against him while he worked. He even had a tiger shark nose him that night and he was thankful for the distraction but his mind kept wandering to Nico.

He wondered if the boy had caught him checking him out. They were possible a year apart, it was hard to tell with how Nico acted, and he hadn’t responded to Percy’s scars. Percy was used to the questions, he had witty comebacks for most of them, but Nico had acted as though he hadn’t even seen them…

 

 

 

“How was work?” his uncle asked as Nico opened the door to the house he would be staying in for the next two and a half years. It wasn’t much but it was well kept and warm. A fire burned in the fireplace and Chiron, his uncle, sat in his wheelchair at the coffee table. Nico couldn’t believe that this was his father’s older brother, it was impossible to see them as being related at all. His father was a tall, broad man with thick black hair and a pale olive complexion, dark eyes and a very tall very obvious Italian nose. His brother was none of those things.

They may have had a similar eye shape but that was were similarities ended. His eyes were light brown and matched his hair, he had a warm tan from when he gardened, he let his beard get a little scruffy, and even when he could walk he was a bit leaner and a good two inches shorter. Now he was bound to a wheelchair from a horseback riding accident over a decade ago. And he kept his hair long. Nico couldn’t imagine his father letting his beard get scruffy let alone letting his hair get long enough he could tie it back.

And even though he was smaller and in a wheel chair, Nico had a definite feeling that Chiron was more of a fighter than Hades di Angelo could ever try to be.

“It went by quick,” Nico admitted. The house wasn’t far from the aquarium so it had been about a half hour walk back but it was still nice. He had a couple hours before he would go into his room and pretend to sleep so until then he could indulge in Chiron’s cooking. Tonight it was hearty ratatouille and fresh salad.

Chiron smiled as Nico dug into his food. The boy seemed to be just skin and bone, not to mention that he didn’t eat much, but the sight of watching him eat was a good one. He obviously loved food. “And you’re sure that the hours won’t make it hard for you to keep that impressive four point two five grade average? I could easily get you a job at my office and we could work hours so they’re convenient.”   

It was no secret that Chiron was proud of Nico’s academic achievements, something Nico only had because he was hoping Persephone would let him go like she did Bianca, but Nico wasn’t too intrigued with the idea of working for his uncle. “That’s fine, I don’t think having me handle a group of foster kids and runaways is a good idea,” the thought of being stuck in a room with that many kids that similar to him was terrifying.

He may not know quite what Nico had been through but Chiron seemed to understand, pretended to understand. No matter how caring Chiron may act towards Nico, Nico knew better than to trust him. No one close would actually be able to help him. He had learned that long ago. But even knowing that Nico still appreciated when his uncle said, “I suppose it does take a certain type of person to understand their position. Although we could use someone calm like you to help them with homework.”

“I’ll think about that,” he wiped his mouth and took his plate to the sink. It was nice living with his uncle, his father had maids who did all the cleaning and the only time he had to pick up anything was when he and Persephone went at each other. She made him clean up his own blood but not his dinner plate. He focused on cleaning, turning it into a distraction and focusing on the fact that he wasn’t in that house anymore. “You will have to teach me how to make that some time,” he smiled at Chiron who smiled back. Rule one in fooling people: act like you still have interest in things.

Flipping the page of his newspaper Chiron returned to reading, “one of these days,” he stated and Nico wondered how much of his act Chiron saw through.

“I’m going to go do the assignments I picked up from the school,” Nico brushed past Chiron and up the stairs to his room. He could feel his uncle’s eyes on his back but he ignored it and shut his door behind him softly before turning on the light.

He hadn’t brought much with him when he left his father’s home. Most of the room was what Chiron had managed to pull together with his father’s help. _No di Angelo would be sleeping on a pull out bed_ were his father’s words. Even though Nico had spent many nights on worse just to escape his step mother.

The room had a kind sized plush bed pushed against one wall, it was just the mattress because when his father bought him furniture he didn’t take into account the fact that Chiron’s home was an eighth the size of his own mansion. He had tried convince Chiron that his father wouldn’t even notice if they just donated it all, but Chiron insisted they keep the mattress and the desk. His room was just off the study where they put his new desk and Chiron had even cleaned out the half bath so that Nico could use it. The only time he had to invade Chiron’s space was for a shower and that was fine with him.

Black sheets covered the mattress, and Nico had brought a large comforter with him that was a dark grey and had a faded skull on it. Bianca had gotten it for him for Christmas some years ago. It was just a pile next to his pillow now, and he hadn’t even bothered to put his pillow in a pillow case. The bed took up a majority of the room, then there was the old dresser that Chiron had cleaned out. It didn’t even have a mirror to it and Nico didn’t care. A lamp sat on the dusty side table and Nico had unpacked his one suitcase so that he could get to his clothes easily. Chiron had offered to take him shopping but Nico explained he didn’t need new clothes and if he did he would buy them with money from his job.

Under the light of the ancient lamp at his bedside table was an old, faded picture. For years it had been stuffed under his mattress at home, a decision made after Persephone took the others and burned them. He smiled at it now and wondered if Bianca was this happy when she first got to display their old family again.

 _We will always be a family._ Even after his father left them Maria di Angelo never lost her gentleness. _Only fools say that a family is measured in numbers. Our family is measured in the time we spend together. It’s measured by our love, and how even if I’m not with you I am thinking of you. I hope that you think of me too._

Nico shook the memory and reminded himself that his mother was no longer there for him. She had left him and Bianca followed after her. If their family was measured in time and memories then they weren’t much of a family now. Instead of dwelling on it he went to the study with his work and let his mind go blank for a while.   

 

 

After Percy finished his shift he grabbed a shower in the locker room. He didn’t even hear Calypso come in until he was opening the shower door and she scared him half to death.

“Sorry,” he yelped and she just laughed as she waited for him with her back turned. He wrapped a towel around his waist and walked to the other side of the row of lockers to dry off and change.

Calypso smiled and took a seat on her side of the lockers. “I’m glad you and the new kid seem to be getting along,” she told him. “He is brand new to town so I was hoping he would fit in.”

Percy pulled his shirt on and walked out from behind the row of blue metal, “Yeah well I don’t think he likes me all that much. The guy barely talks. Where is he from?”

“I think he moved here from LA,” she shrugged, “I just got a call from his father asking if I could help his son out with a part time job. I don’t know much more about him than that. His father helps fund this little place though.” There were times when Calypso almost talked about the aquarium like it was a prison, but Percy didn’t want to know if she didn’t like it there. She did too much good for their animals to leave.

He was tying his shoes while she spoke and it took him a minute to catch all of what she had said. “Wait,” his brows furrowed while he thought, “you mean Nico’s father is like rich?”

Again she only shrugged. Calypso wasn’t much for talking about her employees personal lives. “I only came back here to thank you for taking him under your wing. You’re a good kid Percy.”

Jumping to the balls of his feet he smiled. Calypso knew a great deal of his past, after all it had been because of what had happened that he met her and she offered him a job. She cared and wished she could do more but Percy didn’t want her to let his past cloud how she looked at him so he just winked at her. “Are you evaluating me for my raise?” he chuckled and she rolled her eyes.

“Get home,” she smacked him and shooed him out of the locker room. “Teenage boys shouldn’t work this late.”

“That’s never stopped me before,” he called as he walked away from the building and Calypso locked the door. He was all done for the night and it was only nine o’clock.

 

His mom met him outside the candy shop by a fountain. He smiled and waved to her as she hurried to hug him. Her hugs used to be the most wonderful thing in the world to him as a boy, but now all he could feel was how hesitant she was to touch his back. After squeezing her tight though she got the message and squeezed him back before he let her go. “How was work?” he asked her.

“I swear the only reason I’m not diabetic is because that place has made me borderline hate candy,” she chuckled as they made their way to the bus stop. “What about you?”

Percy shrugged, he didn’t want his mom to look worried about how much he worked. “It was okay. Got to pet a tiger shark today and we have a new guy working with us.”

“Oh?” at that Sally wiggled her eyebrows at him. “And what is his name?”

“Nico,” Percy rolled his eyes. His mother was always waiting to hear if he had found someone new. Since him and Luke broke up it had been difficult. It had been two years, he was happy for Luke and Annabeth, but there were still times when Luke made him think there was something more between them. He hadn’t even noticed that he had managed to go his entire shift without thinking about Luke. “And he is a co-worker, not a good idea mom.”

She just smiled at him, “I bet he thinks you’re cute,” she told him.

“He didn’t even look at me,” Percy tried to tell her but she just rolled her eyes as they boarded the bus.

After handing the driver their cards both of them found seats. “You are a very oblivious person Percy,” she told him, “everyone thinks you’re cute.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you all thought. I love feedback. I may post the next part tonight or tomorrow, not sure yet. Comments are always loved!
> 
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara


	3. Escort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico's first day in school? Well Percy could use the distraction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys like it!   
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara

Part 3: Escort 

The next morning Percy had to rush to school. He had been awake until sometime just before dawn. His mother had already left for work at least an hour ago and there was no doubt in his mind that he was going to be late for the bus. Grabbing his bag he bolted out the door and ran for the corner where he could see the yellow gas guzzler idling.

Thankfully the bus driver was a forgiving man and he let waited as Percy jumped onto the steps, heaving as though he had just run a marathon, and then the doors shut behind him and he nearly lost his footing as the entire vehicle lurched forward. He scrambled to his seat where he promptly fell asleep and only woke up because Grover stepped on his feet when they reached the school.

“Man you need to cut back on the late night parties that you’re never inviting me to,” Grover grabbed Percy’s bicep and heaved him to his feet as they left, Luke and Annabeth trailing behind them as they got to the campus.

Percy grinned at his best friend and laughed, “If I invited you then you would see to it that I wouldn’t have nearly as much fun as I wanted,” he laughed as Grover took a poorly aimed swing at his shoulder.

Next to them Annabeth rolled her eyes, “Oh yes,” she chided, “Percy the heartbreaker. Whose bed have you gotten yourself entangled in now?”

“Now, now Annie,” he joked and wiggled a finger in front of her nose, “I don’t kiss and tell. You know that.” She laughed and the two of them continued towards the main entrance of the school. Behind them Percy could hear Luke stifle a cough and he forced himself to focus on not thinking about Luke. Images of dark eyes and long limbs rushed through his mind and he actually had to stop walking because the sudden infatuation caught him off guard. He didn’t think about people like that, especially people he just met.

Luke ran into him and Percy was caught with a bright blush dusting his cheeks as the older boy steady him to keep from falling over. “Careful there,” Luke told him but Percy just shrugged his grip off of his shoulder and kept walking. “Percy I’m serious,” by this point both Grover and Annabeth had headed down halls to their classes and Percy was left along with Luke, something he hadn’t allowed to happen in over a year. “I want you to be happy,” Luke kept his voice low and stepped closer to Percy. “I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t,” Percy gulped and tried to force more words out of his mouth even though it felt like his chest was collapsing in on him. “I don’t need you to do this to me again, to do this to Annie. If you hurt her then I won’t know where that will put me.”

A hand tried to grip Percy, “You can’t tell me not to worry,” Luke didn’t manage to touch Percy but the boy turned sharp and looked at him.

“I know I can’t Luke, but I do because I _love_ you and that terrifies me. You are happy with Annie, and I’m happy for you…” he felt his throat constricting and forced himself not to cry. Percy didn’t let himself cry in front of anyone.

Together the two of them stood still in the nearly empty hallway. They were both late to class by now, and the only saving grace about that was the fact that there was no one to witness the scene they were causing.

“Then what is the problem Perce?” Luke’s blue eyes were wide and shown with the start of tears that Percy couldn’t handle seeing.

With a heavy sigh Percy forced the pain to the side and leveled his gaze with Luke. “There isn’t a problem,” he said calmly, “you know that you’re my best friend. And I am always here for you.”

The look he got from Luke in that moment made his stomach flutter, “Just know that I will always be there for you as well,” in that moment, the sound of Luke’s voice made Percy feel like the only person in the world. He felt himself subconsciously take a step closer to the person he had fallen in love with. “I want to see you find someone that makes you happy,” Luke smiled as Percy drew closer, “not just a line of affairs anymore.”

Rejection. That was what Luke always ended with. He didn’t want Percy to just be happy, he wanted him to find someone other than him for Percy to fall in love with. Why was it that it always worked like this? Percy felt, in those moments leading up, that there was something there. That Luke’s need to touch him and see him smile was more than something just a mere friend felt. He wanted that happiness but he wanted it with someone who didn’t seem to want it with him, and now that person was dating someone close to Percy, someone who wasn’t aware of their past.

“I am happy,” Percy pulled out of Luke’s touch and turned away from him once again after flashing his winning smile. “You can bet on that.”

 

 

 

The bell rang and Nico sighed as he left the office. His schedule was a list of scribbles on a thin sheet of paper and the ‘ _oh so friendly’_ office lady had informed him that during his homeroom the teacher would be able to assign a guide for him for the rest of the day. He had just shrugged, he didn’t really see how hard it could be to navigate a simple school.

And as it turned out it must be rather hard because the person that the teacher wanted to guide him after looking over his schedule was not on time. It seemed that this wasn’t uncommon because Mr. Paul Blofis just advised him to wait in one of the back seats. Nico did as he was told, walking back towards the far end of the classroom and trying to avoid as much eye contact as possible. He wasn’t used to standing out, he preferred life as the wall flower instead of the center piece. But that didn’t matter when you were to new kid and Nico was dreading the next few days of undivided attention.

Mr. Blofis took attendance once Nico was seated comfortably in his seat. Most students in the room just raised their hand as their name was called, just like every other classroom in America, but then Mr. Blofis paused and raised one finger as though he was waiting for something.

The door flew open and a boy with familiar ink black hair burst into the room with a blank expression on his face.

“And Perseus Jackson!” Mr. Blofis nearly shouted the students name and swept his arm out in the boy’s direction. No wonder he looked familiar. It was the green eyes Adonis from the aquarium.

Percy blinked his eyes and composed himself as Blofis waited for him to walk to his seat. A grin broke out across his face as he noticed everyone staring at him and put together the fact that he had just made a most gracious entrance so he bowed low and strolled to the center of the front of the room. He didn’t bother really looking at any of the people in his homeroom, the whole point of having the English teacher as homeroom was to try and improve on that subject. After bowing he turned to Blofis with a mischievous grin; “How art thou this gracious morning?” he had a thick fake accent that made Nico cringe but the entire scene laughed regardless.

“More like afternoon with you, take your seat Jackson,” Blofis hid the smile that tried to surface on his face but as he walked back to his desk Percy heard him chuckle low in his throat. “Also please give our new student a warm welcome, he waited patiently for his school guide to show up.”

With a quick look around Percy’s eyes found Nico. He almost thought he was just hallucinating when it happened, after all he had been thinking about Nico, but to his blissful surprise it was a real live flesh and blood human. He forced his excitement down and walked calmly over to the boy and to his seat.

“We need to quit meeting this way,” Nico whispered to him with a smirk and held back a laugh as Percy blushed.

He knew that his cheeks were bright red but Percy couldn’t help it, but everything Nico said made him flustered. Turning in his seat he tilted his head and watched Nico stare at the board that was being filled with all the useless activities the school was doing this week. It was Thursday, one of the weirdest days to start a new school not to mention that it was only a couple weeks into the year. “And how do we keep meeting?” he whispered back while he settled to his seat.

Nico finished filling out his schedule for the week and looked back over at the hot guy that seemed to be popping up in his life at every turn. “Well for starters you are always late apparently,” he smiled again and watched as Percy tried to figure him out.

“I think you mean to say that I always make an entrance,” he scoffed and Nico could see the gears turning behind his eyes.

 

Homeroom didn’t last long, Mr. Blofis went over a book that he was apparently teaching for his English class. Nico had read it before, books were one method of escape in his home, and although it wasn’t his favorite he did love the writings of Harper Lee it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable the fourth or fifth time reading it. By the time it was over he had time to look over his schedule and Percy had as well.

“Okay,” Percy slipped him the paper once the bell rang, “You have quite a few classes with me. He stood up and looked down at Nico, for some reason the boy looked a great deal younger than him even if they weren’t far off in height. “How old are you?” Percy didn’t even realize that the question had spilled out of his mouth until he was looking at a very mischievous Nico.

With a small grin Nico picked up his bag and looked into Percy’s eyes, “second guessing your ‘type’ Percy?”

His tan cheeks seemed to turn as red as a tomato at Nico’s words. “And what do you mean by my type?”

“I don’t know,” Nico drawled, “probably strong, blonde, and pale eyes?” the reaction told him all he needed to know: that he was right. But Nico had a way of making himself everyone’s type, at least for a short while that it. And that was all the time in the world for Nico, a moment where he felt wanted and loved even for only a second. He stepped closer to Percy and smiled in the only way that he knew how. “Now it’s impolite to stare,” he joked and pushed Percy’s open mouth shut. “I am fifteen by the way.” And with that he didn’t even wait for a response before sauntering off towards the door with his backpack hanging from one shoulder.

Percy stumbled over the first three words that tried to come out of his mouth before he started to move in Nico’s direction. “Hey wait a minute!” he called after the young boy, “you don’t even know where you’re going!”

 

Their next class was gym. Nico and Percy didn’t seem to share the same feelings for it. For Percy gym was a marvelous time best done both at the beginning of his day and at the end. Nico quickly learned that Percy was not just beautiful to look at; he was also on the swim team and had gone to nationals the last few years. If you looked at his times you could see how close he was getting to Olympic records and if he had any drive he could easily ride his sport through to college. But Percy wasn’t interested the glory of how well he swam; when he talked to Nico it was never about the medals and ribbons that adorned the trophy cabinet it was just about the thrill he gained.

“Oh and you will just love the cheer squad,” Percy continued, “Piper can get anyone to do anything for her but really she is just a bit of a trickster, she has a great heart.”

That was the moment that Nico realized they were in the locker room and everyone was changing into their workout clothes.

“Nico?” Percy waved a hand in front of Nico’s face to bring him back to reality. He shook his head and Percy watched as the loose curls swayed around his face. “You’re locker is over there,” he pointed to the far end of the room, past a group of jocks changing for class and into the back corner. They were standing at Percy’s locker and Nico just shrugged, ignoring the aches that it caused on his ribcage.

His injuries were still healing. If he let himself quit thinking he easy slipped back into that horrible place with that woman. That time his father had been there… he hadn’t stopped a thing. And yet Nico still couldn’t blame him: after all a fight as a result of that could be even worse than what they were all going through.

 _I love you son._ His father had never poured more truth into anything than those words. _Your uncle can care for you while I sort this all out, okay?_

“I don’t have any gym clothes,” Nico shook his head and forced himself to keep thinking. Anything but home was a safe topic and thankfully his ADHD kept his mind going a mile a minute. “Guess I will be attending class in this,” his hands trailed down the attire he had on: black skinny jeans with a faded Deadpool t-shirt and the worn out leather bomber jacket he had found as a kid in his father’s closet.

Without warning Percy threw a pair of blue basketball shorts and a wife beater tank top at his face. “Never fear,” Percy winked, “a sports guy always has spares in his bag.”

Groaning Nico practically stomped over to the locker Percy had pointed to. The other boys were slowly filing out and by the time Nico had slipped off his shorts they were all gone save Percy who had his back turned. Nico didn’t trust locker rooms though, not even if they were completely empty. He still had wrap around his torso to keep his bones secure in case there were any that had been broken and that was the last thing that anyone needed to see on him.

“I swear that the shirt is clean,” Percy called out to Nico, he laughed but Nico could see concern in his eyes just before he lifted his shirt over his head. Unlike at work Percy didn’t have nothing on under his school shirt, he was wearing another tank top and Nico wondered if perhaps Percy didn’t trust all locker rooms either… “You don’t have to glare at it.”

Nico laughed and forced the thoughts out of his mind, he didn’t need to start putting himself in Percy’s head. He had enough issues trying to escape his own demons. Instead he just smiled, the smile he was so used to wearing by now, and threw the tank top back at the boy across from him. “Not really my style,” he retorted. “I think I will just stick with what I’ve got for now.”

“Suit yourself,” Percy finished tying his shoes and bounced on the balls of his feet with a wag of his eyebrows.

One look at Percy’s long grey sweat pants made Nico fume, “Hey! Why the hell do you have sweats?” but instead of responding Percy winked at him and bolted for the door with Nico trailing after him. It was a good feeling Percy decided, being around Nico. It made him feel light and his thoughts were less haunted by his past… He didn’t think about Luke, or his home, or even Gabe when he was with Nico.

The two of them were very late for gym. Coach had already taken roll call, a stout little man with a stubby beard was standing up on the stage and yelling down at the others. “Well look who decided to show up! I hope your tardiness isn’t going to infect the new kid for long Jackson!”

“As far as I’m aware,” Percy shouted back to him as he jogged slower to the stage, “tardiness isn’t like a cold, you can’t catch it.” He laughed at the coach until he was ordered to start doing pushups.

Coach looked down at Percy and shook his head but there was a smile still on his face, “And don’t stop until I tell ya to,” he chuckled.  “Now, you’re the di Angelo boy I presume,” he grunted in Nico’s general direction. “You don’t look much like the athletic type. I’m guessing you spend your free time on a computer?”

Nico grinned up at him, thinking of the sad part of what he was going to say, but he had the energy to grin just thinking of his dark humor. “That’s not entirely correct,” he called out, “I’m actually a pretty good runner!”

“Well than get to it!” the coach shouted back at him with a wide grin, “Jackson and you, run laps NOW!”

Both Nico and Percy started jogging and Percy led him out the door and to the outdoor track. It was still warm out, early September, and Percy taunted Nico as though he could run faster than him. But Percy had never met someone so adept at running away. Nico blasted past him, his chest burning from the exertion, and he reveled in the fact that he didn’t even care. And for once it wasn’t because he felt the need to remind himself of pain but because he was too happy to let it hurt him.

They ran for what felt like ten minutes, Percy constantly trying to catch up to Nico, but when Percy’s faked pained cries for stopping finally made their impact and Nico slowed to a jog so the other boy could catch up. When they were slowed down even more, to a light walk, Percy laughed. “I never pegged you for a runner,” he exaggerated his breathing like he was wiped out but Nico could tell he had really just warmed up. He may not be past but he could probably jog forever.

“Yeah, well I have been doing it a while,” he joked and patted Percy on the back.

“Were you on the track team at your old school?” Percy asked and watched out of the corner of his eye how Nico gripped at his sides as though it was hard to breathe. The way that his eyes crinkled showed Percy that he was in pain, but now wasn’t the time to ask about it.

It was only a small shake of the head but Percy knew that running was obviously not something that Nico wanted to talk about. “We should get changed,” Percy looked at the watch on his wrist, “class is over in fifteen.”

Almost as though he was summoned the coach appeared at the entrance back into the gym, “You cupcakes better book it to the locker room and hit the showers!” he called out to them.

 

Percy noted that Nico refused to change out of his sweaty shirt, choosing instead to let it dry out on him and wear it the rest of the day. They went to normal classes and lunch, Percy lost him when they got in line, and then near the end he showed up by Percy’s locker like some sort of ghost.

“I was wondering if I would ever see you again,” Percy closed his locker and started to walk towards their math class. “I don’t know how I feel about them putting you in nearly all my classes, kind of stalkerish.”

“Well this way you have less chances to miss me,” Nico chided him and followed Percy towards their next class. It drug on and on, and to be honest if anyone was doing the helping it was Nico. Percy couldn’t focus on anything for more than a few minutes. “I swear,” he growled under his breath, “if you can’t at least finish writing out the problem I will…”

“Will what,” Percy whispered through a mocking laugh.

“I will bite you,” Nico snarled and watched Percy’s face deepen in color. “Or if you want that I can make it a reward,” he smirked and after that Percy managed to stay focused or at least quiet for the rest of the class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Venting through words is great therapy, I hope you guys enjoy. Please comment if you did, or just let me know how you feel the story is going. I actually have a twist coming up so be prepared.   
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara


	4. Friendship and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Future opportunities and meeting new people may not be all it seems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part four already?!!   
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara

Part 4: Friendship and Lies

Once math was over and both Percy and Nico had escaped the stern looks of Professor Athena they had to part ways. Even though the school had placed them in a majority of the same classes there was one area that his tour guide didn't have the slightest ability to navigate. That was English. 

They only had two classes left for the day and so while Percy ran to his study hall Nico got to face English alone. He didn't really mind, in fact he figured it was probably for the best since Percy distracted him more that needed. He already knew Mr. Blofis so that helped as well, aside from that it was the advanced class. 

"How did you get into advanced Lit but have English as your homeroom?" Percy had questioned before dropping Nico off in front of the classroom. 

Nico gave him a questioning look, "I chose to be. I like English." he said as though that should be the obvious reason to go to an English homeroom. 

"Yea but you're not supposed to just pick a homeroom, they put you in whatever class will help you most." 

At that Nico made the connection to a lot of his classmates, "Ah, that explains that," he nodded his head in understanding and leaned against the wall as he waited for class to start. "They just let me choose mine," before Percy could even ask how he managed to swing that Nico held up a finger, "it may be because I have been taking some advanced courses at my old school and handling them fairly well." 

Percy looked him over, "All advanced classes," he said the statement like it was something between a wonder and a punishment. "Dang, aren't you already a grade ahead?" Nico blushed, he never liked to be reminded that he was younger, mostly because he found people his own age nearly insufferable. "You must have spent a long time studying, or are you some kind of genius?" 

That made Nico laugh, “Definitely not a genius, in fact reading was hard since I'm dyslexic. But books were a great escape-," he stopped what he was about to say and stared at Percy unsure what to do now that he nearly broke his cardinal rule number two: never let anyone in. Percy just stared back at him, a moment of understanding that Nico couldn't have been more grateful for and then the bell rang and Percy jumped.

"Shit," he looked at Nico and blushed, "sorry, I'm going to be late." they held each other's gaze for a moment longer before Percy shook his head, "do you work today?" he asked and Nico just nodded, "meet me at the five seven one seven bus, it makes a stop about two blocks from the aquarium." 

Ducking into the classroom Nico almost couldn't contain his smile. He knew it was foolish but something about Percy made him want to... get to know him? It was such a strange feeling that Nico couldn't really place it. Percy's kindness, his free spirit, his laugh and smile. The nagging memory of the scars on his back and how he didn't change his shirt in the school locker room... Percy was a puzzle that Nico desperately wanted to piece together and see what kind of picture it would make. 

 

 

 

After class Nico was called up by Mr. Blofis, he half expected that he had been caught day dreaming during the lecture but that wasn't the case. The middle aged man smiled at Nico from behind his desk and waved the boy over with no hint of annoyance. Nico stood at the side of the large desk and waited as Mr. Blofis finished up his paper with twinkling eyes. "You," as Mr. Blofis finished up the last sentence he pointed to Nico and beamed, "are an excellent writer young boy. And you have already finished the assigned reading for this chapter! Needless to say; I'm impressed." 

Nico wasn't unused to this sort of compliment from teachers but it still made him a bit bashful. "Why thank you," he tried to keep from stuttering but had a feeling that he didn't do very well. 

"I was wondering if you've ever tutored anyone Mr. di Angelo," Blofis stood up from his desk and walked around it so that he and Nico were face to face. "It would be a wonderful extracurricular activity, and it does look good on college applications. I heard from the director that you were interested in building a solid application so I thought this would be a good opportunity to help." 

Thinking about it Nico guessed that he really did need to make a more extensive list of extracurricular activities, which was always the one thing he worried about after all since he wasn't social. Tutoring wouldn't be anything new to him, and who knows maybe he could take Chiron's offer up on helping the children out where he worked as well.... 

Mr. Blofis brought him back to the present, "I noticed that you and Percy seem to get along. It doesn't really surprise me," he walked back around to the other side of his desk, "but you have probably noticed that he can get a little distracted. His grade in English is nothing to smile about so I was wondering..." he drawled off and let Nico connect the dots. 

"You want me," Nico thought about it for a moment longer, "you think I can get his grade up?!" 

"I think you can help him concentrate," Mr. Blofis said calmly.

At that Nico gave him probably one of the most passive aggressive stares he could muster, "Have you ever trained a squirrel on speed Mr. Blofis?" 

He laughed, "oh yes I understand that the boy has a way of getting off subject but from what I've heard you actually managed to get him through an entire class without Ms. Athena assigning him detention that he won’t ever go to." Nico groaned and Mr. Blofis laughed even harder. "Here," he handed Nico a packet, "him and I talked about it and if I can find him a tutor he may have a shot. Look over his work and tell me if you think it’s worth the time then, he may surprise you with what he finishes. If you don't think you can help him after reading those then let me know." 

 

 

 

Percy was lucky enough to have study hall with Annabeth, Grover, and Luke. It was one way that the school was helping Luke get back on his feet. The four of them huddled in the back of the library and hunched over their books like a group of penguins trying to gain warmth. Annabeth was going through her usual rants at Percy for not caring enough about his class work and letting his grades slip while she quickly finished up her calculus homework and Luke just shook his head as he watched Percy completely ignore her in favor of a comic he had slipped into his social studies textbook. Grover leaned over to Percy as he was skimming the pages, barely even able to focus on that because Nico's voice kept drifting to him.  _Books were a great escape-_  the way that the sentence had cut off told Percy more than he had meant for it to. If anyone knew the need for an escape it was Percy, the only question was what had Nico needed to escape from? 

"A little distracted today?" Grover asked and Percy realized everyone's attention was on him and he had been staring at the same page for probably close to five minutes. 

"We were asking about that new kid that we heard about," Annabeth pressed him for information, "and while I am proud to see you staring at a school text book it would be even better if you didn't have an Aquaman comic inside of it."   

Percy blushed, partially from being caught and partially from thinking about Nico. "Oh, yea," he stammered and Luke raised a blonde eyebrow at him. "The new kid. His name is Nico di Angelo," Percy tried to keep the conversation short, "just moved into town I'm guessing."     

“You’re guessing?” Annabeth questioned, “you two have been hanging around each other all day and you don’t even know where he is from?! And he is a cute little thing to, not my type,” she looked over to Luke and smiled shyly, “but all the same I would have figured out that kid’s favorite flavor of ice cream and cartoon as a child by now.”

Everyone laughed and sat back in their seats but Luke never quit observing Percy, and for some reason that made Percy feel like a child in trouble as he slouched lower into his chair.

“Annabeth the super sleuth,” Grover laughed again and held his sides. “God Annie, can’t you at least pretend to give a shit about people’s personal lives?”

At those words Annabeth’s grey eyes seemed to darken and she stopped laughing as she leaned back into the book she had been reading. “Sometimes you have to pry to actually get to know someone. At least if you care about them… Otherwise how else are you supposed to really understand someone?”

All of them had dealt with Luke differently. Even though they never enjoyed talking about it there was still a scar on each of them that had changed the way the spoke to and about people. For Annabeth that had been to pry for information from those she cared about. It had scared off a number of her friends and caused her to distance herself from her family. She learned quickly that knowing secrets came at a price, secrets like her who her mother was or what someone was actually doing when they told her they were just chilling at home. Now it seemed that Annabeth was all alone because she knew better than to get close to people because that came at a cost she couldn’t afford for just any one person. Even with Percy, the bits and pieces of information she had gathered were enough to put him at arm’s length now, and she had barely scratched the surface.

Grover had blamed himself for everything. He had known Luke for years and when everything went south both him and Annabeth took it badly. But he managed to continue getting up every day with Percy’s encouragement. And, to be honest, dwelling wasn’t really Grover’s thing. He preferred to spend his time filled with music and distractions and that worked for him.

But Percy knew that what he said was what he truly meant. “I think the only way you can get to know anybody,” everyone looked at him with pain in their eyes aside for Luke who just kept his mouth in a hard tight line, “is to offer up part of yourself first.”

 

After school was out Nico stood at the sign for the bus pick up, it was the one that Percy had pointed out to him five seven one seven. And for once Percy wasn’t late, he had actually gotten there first and was waiting for Nico when he walked up. The driver had the doors shut but with a wave of Percy’s hand they opened and both he and Nico climbed into the bus where Percy navigated him to the back and both of them sat down as other students started to file in.

Nico caught sight of three people climbing onto the bus, one of them looking around frantically. She was tall with curly blonde hair and her eyes seemed to be piercing through everyone that looked at her. When she noticed Nico she stormed over, “Where the hell were you Percy?!” she called and beside Nico Percy stiffened as the group started to approach them.

A boy with a scraggly beard got smiled politely at Nico but the other two just ignored him and stared at Percy. The third musketeer was taller than the girl by at least two inches, his blond hair cropped short and even and his blue eyes sparkling. Nico had to wonder which of them Percy was most afraid of, but that would be getting to personal.

“Sorry,” Percy crossed his arms over his chest, “I didn’t realize that I had to run everything by you Annie,” he sounded snood but a smile broke through on his face. “I’m just giving you a hard time,” he laughed and nudged her with a light fist. Percy hadn’t even thought about telling them he was meeting Nico, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

Rolling her eyes Annabeth collapsed in the seat across from him, forcing Luke back behind her. “I swear seaweed brain, the only thing worse than your attention span is your manners.” She leaned over to get a better look at Nico who was silently leaning against the window. “I’m Annabeth by the way.”

He nodded at her with a polite smile. She was pretty, her eyes a soft grey when she wasn’t angry and she had a beautiful smile. Behind her the other blond was staring at him, almost picking him apart with his eyes but ever muscle on his face was relaxed. Annabeth looked back at him and laughed, “this is Luke, he likes to try and be intimidating.” At that Luke smiled and leaned forward so the two of them were supporting each other.

The other boy from the group shoved Percy to the side and sat down on the seat. It wasn’t exactly how Nico wanted Percy to get close to him but he wasn’t about to complain about the fact that Percy had grabbed him to keep from slamming into the side of the metal bus frame or the fact that he was so close their shoulders brushed against each other.

“That ever courteous being is Grover,” Annabeth glared at the boy but she smiled and Nico got the feeling they were rather close friends.

“I have a leg condition thank you!” Grover laughed and leaned forward to shake Nico’s hand with a playful smile, “Nah don’t let it fool ya, I’m a total bad ass.”

Everyone laughed at that and Nico looked over the other teens. The more he watched Annabeth examine him the more he felt like he had seen that look before, but he chose to ignore it. “The name is Nico,” he reached out to Annabeth and Luke, shaking their hands respectively. “Nico di Angelo.”

“You never told us he was Italian,” Annabeth giggled as she shook his hand. “I mean really Percy, you acted as though you knew nothing about him.”

Percy shrugged, “I figured you all knowing sleuth would have at least figured out that detail,” he mocked her with a smile.

“So Nico,” Grover butted in before the other two went full brawl out style on each other. “Where are you headed on our shitty shitty bang bang bus?”

Before Nico could answer Percy was speaking up for him, “first of all,” he held a finger up in Grover’s direction, “this is the awesome bus.” He smiled wide and nodded at the others who just rolled their eyes. “Secondly,” he stuck out his thumb, “Nico lives in my apartment complex.” The lie threw Nico off at first and he was thankful that the others seemed just as shocked about this as he was. Considering he didn’t even live in an apartment.

“That snobby place let another kid move in?!” Grover looked at Percy with large eyes, Annabeth seemed to be evaluating Nico’s response, and Luke had locked a gaze with Percy that he was desperately trying to break.

He gave a nervous chuckle, “yea, they weren’t very happy about it but what can you do?” Percy looked just past Annabeth and Luke, “the place can’t actually force only adults to live there. As long as the rent is always paid.”

Nico could tell that the others were all questioning the story, and while Nico had no idea why Percy told it to them he felt bad just letting the guy hang out to dry. “My uncle lived there for a while before I needed a place. I moved in about a week ago so there wasn’t really an option.” He had a feeling that being the new kid the story would be forgotten if he went with it and made it wound believable. Beside him Percy flashed just the hint of a smile on his lips.

“So Nico where are you from?” Annabeth pressed.

“Vegas,” he said shortly. “Those are beautiful pearls Annabeth,” he motioned to her earrings in the hope that it would get them off of his life story.

It didn’t.

“Oh they aren’t even real,” she untucked her hair and let it fall forward. “Why did you move into town?”

Leaning back Nico observed Annabeth just a bit closer and noticed the book on her lap. It was old and worn much like the books he owned only it was an entire book on architecture. “I’ve always wanted to see the Empire state building,” he acted like it was his biggest dream in the world and it worked. Percy groaned as Annabeth lit up and for the next ten minutes all of them were tangled in a web of facts and structures to go see.

Eventually Percy and Nico were alone on the bus again. To Nico’s amusement Percy never pulled away from them when everyone else left. They stayed side by side as the bus moved along and Nico nearly started to doze right along with Percy. When the bus driver grunted at their stop and told them to get off the two of them jumped and rushed for the doors.

Nico wanted to know why Percy lied, and he felt he had a right to know since Percy had roped him into it, but he didn’t say anything as they headed towards the aquarium. And for once they were in silence all the way there, even better they were five minutes early to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!   
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara


	5. Dolphin Petting?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico and Percy have something to talk about, because Nico isn't sure how comfortable he is with lying. And once work starts its hard to tell if he is working or just playing, Percy has a way of bringing out a side of him that Nico thought was dead. And Nico has a way of making Percy share things he never thought he could...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW! I know I said I was going to update soon, and I am sorry for the wait. This piece has gotten me through the worst breakup of my life, and once I somewhat got through it I stepped away from the writing I was venting through. But I'm back and ready to finish this! Promise :) Hope you guys enjoy all the Percico!  
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara

Part 5: Dolphin Petting?

Nico watched as Percy stripped out of his shirt for work once again, this time he watched from a distance and confirmed that there were definitely scars on this boys back. He could see them criss-cross over each other to make Percy look like a patchwork quilt, as though the skin had been torn off and placed back onto his body at random. He was so lost in looking that he almost didn’t notice Percy turn and eye him watching him.

“What were your words earlier?” Percy joked a bit, “like what you see?” No one that they went to school with knew about Percy’s scars. For swimming he always tried to wear a body suit and as far as work went he was normally alone in the locker room and Calypso already knew about the scars. She had made sure that he wouldn’t feel like he had to hide and that comfort had extended so far that he had forgotten to cover himself in front of Nico. It didn’t seem like the boy was going to say anything though.

Shocked at how casual Percy was Nico tried to cover his blush and turned to his own locker, “Why did you lie back on the bus to your friends?” he asked hesitantly before slipping his work shirt over the one he was wearing. The work uniform was a bit big on him so it didn’t feel too awkward but he still wished he had a tank top instead.

Percy watched as Nico still refused to remove his shirt. Just like in gym the Italian kept the damn thing on like a security blanket.

“Were you listening to me?” Nico asked, one eyebrow raised and Percy was shocked by how much it turned him on. He didn’t want to let anyone in anymore but he sure wouldn’t mind getting to know this di Angelo.

Shaking his head Percy blushed, “No, sorry,” he gulped and turned back to his own locker, acting like he was putting things back into his bag and rummaging around for something.

Sighing Nico shook his head and leaned against the locker closest to Percy, “I asked why you lied to your friends. Normally I wouldn’t stick my nose into your business but you decided to drag me along with you so…”

Pausing Percy tried to think up a good excuse. A handful flew through his mind but none of them were any good. He decided honesty was probably the best strategy here so he took a deep breath and turned to face Nico. _If you really want to know someone you have to give a piece of yourself, right?_ “None of my friends know that I work, it’s kind of a secret.” He thought more about the lies he could craft as Nico stared at him blankly, “okay I could feed you some bullshit reason but I just don’t want them to worry about it, okay? Besides you aren’t all that innocent either you know.”

Nico was stunned, “What are you talking about?”

“From Vegas?” Percy raised an eyebrow at the shorter boy, “I heard you were from LA.”

Surprised Nico wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t remember telling Percy that he was from LA. “Where did you hear that? Never mind, it doesn’t matter, but I did live in Vegas for a bit so that isn’t really a lie. And they aren’t my friends anyways,” he snapped and headed toward the exit of the locker room.

“Nico!” Percy slammed his locker shut and took off after the boy, “Nico, wait!” after catching up he grabbed Nico’s wrist only to have the boy yank it back violently and slap him. The sudden action made them both stop and Nico plastered himself back against the wall with his eyes blown wide in fear. Percy knew that reaction… The reaction of a dog that had never been shown love before, or, the reaction of a person that had been abused… He watch Nico, waiting for his breathing to slow until he lifted a hand to his cheek where Nico had slapped him. “Well that was a surprise,” he ran his hand through his hair and let out a nervous laugh.

“What did you want to tell me so desperately?” Nico was still trying to calm his heartrate down, he was going to have to work on his reactions now that he was away from that woman.

Without missing a beat Percy moved forward, dwelling on it now was not going to help him get Nico to open up to him. “Well,” he sighed, “my mother and I aren’t the wealthiest of people so I work here to help her out with the bills. My friends have enough to worry about with Luke so I told them we moved into a gated community for adults… I just didn’t want them to think I was on my way to work.”

Percy’s honesty shocked Nico, who could be that trusting? Hell, _who could be that stupid?_ Anyone other than Nico would press for information and probably even make fun of him for being poor. Especially the people that Nico had grown up around, private schools and snobby rich kids weren’t the most compassionate people. But he just looked at Percy and nodded, “okay,” he whispered. He was still coming down from his near panic attack and he honestly owed Percy for not questioning him about it, “Okay, I can play along with that.” The two of them were silent for a moment and Nico had to ask, “How much more do you know about me?”

“Just that your father helps fund this aquarium,” he said after a moment of thought, “actually I know next to nothing about you. If your dads that rich and you’re this closed off maybe I should google your family,” at that he winked at Nico and laughed.

“Jackson, di Angelo!” A deep voice called the two of them out of the locker room.

The voice belonged to a tall, broad shouldered man wearing a thick leather apron and a welding mask. His skin was dark and dirtied by what was probably soot and oil, the pair of work gloves in his hand had done little to keep them clean. Nico was shocked with the guy’s sheer height and muscle mass as he tried to look him in the eye.

“Beckendorf,” Percy saluted the man and even Nico rolled his eyes at him.

“The name is Charles,” Charles removed his mask and Nico was greeted with a kind face and warm dark eyes under a strong brow. He seemed like the kind of guy girls would keep around to intimidate the creepers. “I work the maintenance here,” his eyes went back to Percy and narrowed, “and I want to make sure that this fish here is going to be teaching you how to clean the tanks properly.” His tone shifted to something more threatening and Nico saw Percy blush.

“Hey that was a onetime thing,” Percy defended himself, “I didn’t mean get a popped beach ball stuck in the filter, and I apologized!”

Nico couldn’t help but smirk at pouting Percy, he was really quite cute like that.

Charles gave into the pout and smiled, then covered up the smile with a stern look before crossing his arms, “As long as you don’t teach this one to fool around with the dolphins, whales, and gods forbid the damn sharks again, I guess I can forget it.”

That didn’t cheer up Percy as much as Nico thought it would. As Charles walked away Percy shouted after him, “But playing with the animals is the best part!” and before Charles could come back to give them a lecture Percy was running away. Nico didn’t want to listen to the rant alone so he fallowed quickly, passing Percy easily and stopping at a manta ray exhibit.

 

 

 

It was actually fun for both of them, working together. Percy loved his work in general, he had even thought that once he was done with high school he would stay and try to become an animal trainer or something like that. His mother wanted him to go to school but that wasn’t bound to be in the cards for him at this point in life. But being around the marine life made Percy happy, and he wouldn’t mind that being his daily life for forever if it had to be. On the other hand Nico didn’t clique with the animals the way that Percy did, but he had a good time watching Percy work. The two of them made their rounds testing the pH in the tanks.

At the dolphin tank Nico sat on the edge of a low wall and admired the way that Percy managed to touch each dolphin on the nose while he waited for the test to process.

“Don’t you like animals?” Percy called out. Now that Nico knew the general process for doing his job they would have more time to talk. He had already figured out that Nico probably knew more about the pH tests than he did, all he knew was that it had to be a certain color and if it wasn’t then there was a problem. But Calypso and Charlie handled most of the bigger problems.

One of the dolphins sprayed water in Percy’s direction and Nico watched as it seemed to pass straight over his head in a mist and form a rainbow. That brought a smile to Nico’s face. “I like animals,” he called, “but the feeling isn’t generally mutual.”

That made Percy perk up, he would have felt odd if Nico just didn’t like animals. This would be a horrible place to work if that were the case. “Well come here!” he waved Nico over and watched as he reluctantly did as Percy asked. As he made his way over Percy told the dolphin to group closer and one of them even slid up on the platform.

Nico knelt beside Percy and watched as he nuzzed the dolphin until it chattered at him happily and jumped back into the tank. “Reach your hand out!” Percy encouraged, so Nico did. He could feel the creatures before him hesitate, their happy chatter dying down, but Percy reached out as well. Their hands were close and Percy hesitated but wove his fingers into Nico’s, securing Nico’s hand under his and moving it to stroke one of the dolphins.

A moment later Percy let go and Nico was actually petting a dolphin. He had never done anything like this before, and it was wonderful. Soon the other dolphins got closer and he rubbed the nose of each of them until one of them made to slide up on the platform. The wave it created got both Percy and Nico wet, their jeans hit with cold water, and behind them they heard someone laugh.

Calypso was holding a bucket in one hand and had her wet suit half on, only a tank top on and the suit folded back at her waist. She laughed again and slid the bucket towards them. “Go on and give them some fish,” she urged and started to pull her suit on the rest of the way. “Leave me a few, I’m going to want some for treats.”

Not to his surprise Nico watched Percy grab a fish and toss it to the nearest dolphin. Then he grabbed one and tossed it to Nico. He didn’t managed a good catch and thankfully the dolphin in front of him caught it quickly with a laugh before jumping back in the tank once more.

“Shouldn’t we be using gloved for this?” Nico called as Percy started to pass out fish with a smile on his face.

“Only if you’re a total wuss,” he shouted and put the bucket down so Calypso still had some for later. “Come on, we need to finish up before the end of your shift.”

And they did. They didn’t talk a whole lot, just worked in a comfortable silence until it was almost time for Nico to clock out. Percy followed him back to the locker rooms and the two started to change. Nico was so comfortable he didn’t even notice his shirt riding up while he took off his uniform.

But Percy did.

First it was just general curiosity about what Nico looked like. Percy had managed to conjure up some pretty detailed fantasies. None of them had included yellowing black and purple bruises though… He looked away almost immediately, definitely quick enough that Nico wouldn’t think he saw anything. But the bruises worried him…

Before Nico left to clock out Percy pulled out the wet suit. “Hey,” he called, “do you mind helping me with something before you head out?”

“What?” Nico turned to see a half-naked Percy holding a wet suit.

Feigning embarrassment Percy shrugged, “Sometimes the suit sticks too much and I need help zipping the back closed.”

Both of them stared at each other. Nico was going to be… dressing Percy? Well that would be a change of pace from what Nico would normally do with someone, and he was pretty sure he didn’t like it. “Uh, sure…” he set his book bag down and got closer to Percy. The other boy pulled the suit up over himself and stuck his hands in the sleeves. Both of them had gotten sweaty from the humid feed rooms and Nico could hear the material squeak as it pulled against Percy’s skin before the boy turned his back to Nico.

It was a shock. Nico wasn’t sure if he should even touch Percy’s scars, scar tissue could be sensitive if it didn’t heal well. And from the look of Percy’s back there was a great deal of pure scar tissue covering it. What if he hurt Percy…? What if Percy reacted like he had to being grabbed?

“Don’t be afraid,” Percy’s voice was small and scared. Even Nico caught that. “It’s all pretty much numbed…”

Silence.

Nico felt his hands shake as he gripped the edges of the suit to pull it together. His fingers brushed over the raised and bumped surface of Percy’s back. It caused Percy to shiver and Nico instantly dropped the material and gripped his face thinking he had hurt Percy.

“Hey,” Percy turned and slowly lifted Nico’s face, one hand on each side on top of Nico’s. He guided Nico to look up at him and smiled even though his entire body wanted to run far away. “Wow, I thought this was hard for me… I’m alright, okay?” Nico sat on one of the benches and Percy knelt down in front of him, one hand still resting on Nico’s. “It was a long time ago, and it’s all over now.” Nico caught Percy’s piercing gaze and could tell he was trying to say more than he really was. “I got out of it, I got away from all of it and I’m all healed now.”

He wanted so badly to tell Nico that there was more to life than where he was right now, that anything was possible and he could change his life. But he couldn’t do that without bringing up the bruises.

“Even when you get away,” Nico whispered and Percy wasn’t sure if he was talking to him or himself, “you’re never fully healed…”

It was quite, and Percy didn’t respond, but eventually Nico managed and deep breath and a smile. “Let’s get that zipped up,” and this time he pointedly didn’t look at Percy’s scars and only the zipper. Once it was done he grabbed his bag and flashed Percy his most convincing I’m fine smiles before leaving.

Percy didn’t find it that convincing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys thought! There are some plot twists coming up, I'm kind of curious where you guys think the story will go. As always leave me your thoughts in the comments and give kudos if you enjoyed it! Criticism is always welcome so let me know your thoughts. I should be updating this soon, really I want to come up with a dedicated update schedule so I will keep you guys informed on that!  
> PS I'm looking for beta readers for my manuscript. It isn't fanfiction but if you enjoy reading and can give me feedback it would be extremely appreciated. If you're interested send me a private message so we can get in touch :)   
> -ThroughTheFog aka Megara


	6. Announcement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is just a short letter explaining where I have been and what is going on with the story. Don not worry, it has not been abandoned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for my absence, I hope that you are still able to enjoy this tale. 
> 
> ThroughTheFog

Dear Readers,

 

I am sorry for my lengthy absence. My life took an interesting turn that I wont bore you on the details with but I am back attempting to revive all the works that I left unfinished. This one in particular was a struggle though as I had a lot of plot holes that I hadn't noticed before. I have a really bad habit of running with ideas and no outline but I am working to redo the story so it has a better flow. 

Feel free to check out the revised version, there are key points that have been changed as it aids to the conclusion of the overall story. 

 

Thank you

ThroughTheFog 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check out the revised version. You can find it in my works and I will be updating it as regularly as possible. Once I am more or less caught up to where I left this work I will post another update letting you know what chapter to start on. Of course the story has changed though so I will recap all of those changes as well. 
> 
> ThroughTheFog

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure how long this will be but probably not that long. I almost went for a one shot but that didn't quite work out so here we are. Tell me what you think, this will probably get updated really quickly.


End file.
